Whitney Strickland Wins Again in Masters Cup

MILLVILLE, N.J. (August 2, 2026) – Cooper Shipman earned his second Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) victory, winning Race 2 at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) on Sunday morning.

Notes of Interest:

• Cooper Shipman returned to victory lane for the first time since the season-opening weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park. Familiar with NJMP’s victory lane, Shipman swept the weekend at the 2.25-mile circuit last season enroute to his Formula 4 United States Championship title.
• Retiring early from Race 1, Evagoras Papasavvas rebounded to finish second in Race 2.
• After being declared the Race 1 winner, Luke Powers returned to the podium in Race 3 with a third-place finish.
• Three teams were represented on today’s podium with Kiwi Motorsport taking the victory, Crosslink Motorsports finishing second and Toney Driver Development finishing third.
• Whitney Strickland tallied his ninth win in the Masters Cup Championship.

Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) led the field down the starting grid after setting the fastest lap in yesterday’s Race 1. He lined up next to Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who had shown pace all weekend. Papasavvas initially held the advantage with more than a one-second margin, but as the race progressed, Shipman’s car got dialed in and he closed in on the lead. As the clock neared halfway, Shipman completed the pass on Papasavvas and immediately pulled away.  

A debris caution led to a wild restart with just under five minutes left in the race. The single-file restart quickly flanked two wide as drivers raced side by side into Turn 1. Papasavvas pulled up next to Shipman to challenge for the lead, while Luke Powers (No. 5 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3), Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) ran three wide as they raced toward Turn 1. Hauanio backed out just as Powers pulled ahead of Golan. By the time they completed the circuit to collect the checkered flag, Shipman led Papasavvas and Powers across the finish line.

“[The win was] definitely a long time coming,” said Shipman after climbing from the car. “We had a rough stretch these past couple of weekends, but it’s good to finally reward the team for their hard work and come away with a win. It was a tough race in the heat; there was a lot of dirty air, but I was finally able to get around Evagoras and come away with a win.”

>> SEE MORE:  Round 13 Provisional Results 

In the Masters Cup, Whitney Strickland (No. 21 TF Companies / Hillenburg Motorsports Ligier JS F3) drove a flawless race to win the class. He joined series newcomer Aiden Zelaya (No. 1 Jensen Global Advisors / JENSEN Ligier JS F3) in putting on a show as the two jockeyed for position throughout most of the event. Behind him, Kevin Janzen (No. 24 US Power Group/Data Center Solutions / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) and Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) made contact during the formation lap, but both were able to continue and make it the full distance. Janzen fought a vibration, but was able to cross the line second in class, while Autiello completed the podium in third. 

“It was fun,” said Strickland after climbing from the car. “I had one of the youngsters [Aiden Zelaya] behind me. Man, that kid's pretty good. I think he's going to go somewhere someday. Old age and treachery were able to get the better of him, though. I have a lot of experience being able to be as wide as possible on the track, so that helped me out. I want to thank Hillenburg Motorsports—I have one of my best buddies, Darryl Wills, that takes care of my car, and Eric Wisniewski, my driver coach. He's been great this weekend.”